A duel? A duel!

"Mr. Potter, what nonsense are you two up to?" Before Draco could react to Harry's provocation, another stern voice cut in.

It was Professor Minerva McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House.

Harry respected Professor McGonagall a great deal, because she was a very serious and responsible teacher, both in and out of class.

Although her strictness made the young witches and wizards rather afraid of her, Harry knew Professor McGonagall cared deeply about her students. Of course, the Nimbus 2000 she had given him might also have had something to do with his fondness for her.

Professor McGonagall wore a light blue robe trimmed with gold stripes that day, which made her look less stern than usual. But the moment her face hardened, every young witch and wizard fell silent.

Professor McGonagall walked between Harry and Draco, swept a stern gaze over the two boys, who were now cowering like quails, and shook her head. "Wizard duels are dangerous. Even if you are only first-years with a very limited command of magic, you can still be hurt quite easily without someone supervising you."

"Professor McGonagall, I have no intention of questioning your opinion, but I believe there is no need for such concern." A deep voice rang out. Snape had appeared at some point and taken his place beside Draco, dressed in his usual black robes, his hair gleaming with grease as though he had not washed it for days, and a faint smell of potions clinging to him.

"They may only be first-years, but they are still wizards. A wizard's duel is a sacred and serious affair. We ought to offer them some support and show proper respect for tradition. You often say so yourself, do you not, Professor?"

Snape showed Professor McGonagall a measure of respect, but when his gaze swept over Harry and Ron, it was full of cold indifference.

As his eyes passed over Harry's face, a peculiar emotion flickered in them, only to turn into intense loathing an instant later. "At most, we need only keep an eye on them from the sidelines. I imagine that with you and me watching, there should be no danger. What do you think?"

"Severus, do you think this is a good idea?" Professor McGonagall frowned, neither accepting nor rejecting his suggestion outright.

"I believe so. You see, although we no longer live in troubled times, it may not be a bad thing for children to learn how to fight a little earlier. Are you not an expert in dueling yourself? I imagine you could offer them some guidance as well," Snape said flatteringly.

"Very well, Severus, if that is what you think..." Professor McGonagall frowned and hesitated, but finally decided to indulge Snape. She nodded and raised a finger slightly.

A house-elf appeared beside Professor McGonagall without warning and asked in an exceedingly respectful tone, "What are your orders, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall?"

"Ah, Dallik. Please rearrange this area. A duel will be held here shortly. Restore everything afterward," Professor McGonagall instructed briefly.

"As you wish." The house-elf named Dallik bowed, then vanished from the spot as abruptly as the elf had appeared.

The next moment, the four long tables and their matching benches quietly disappeared, replaced by a long, raised platform in the center. It was made of some unknown material and covered with a red carpet, with steps at either end.

Professor McGonagall nodded in satisfaction, then looked toward Snape.

"Thank you for your support, Professor McGonagall." Snape inclined his head slightly, then turned to Harry and Draco.

"I believe seconds will be unnecessary. One on one! Losing your wand, falling unconscious, falling off the platform, or voluntarily surrendering will all count as defeat. Ordinarily, death would also be included, but since this is a school, Professor McGonagall and I will prevent that from happening. Do either of you have any other objections?"

Draco stared with wide eyes, blinking and blinking, unable to understand how things had ended up this way.

Harry felt a headache coming on too. He had been equally unprepared for this turn of events.

Harry had originally meant to take Draco down a peg. He had been certain Draco would never dare duel him.

Draco, meanwhile, had wanted to find a deserted place to ambush Harry. An open, honorable fight? Wizards were not knights. They had no such notion-at least, the Malfoy family did not.

The name Malfoy itself said quite a lot about the family's traditions.

What neither boy had anticipated, however, was that Professor McGonagall and Snape's intervention would change the whole affair. Now it looked as though the duel really was going to take place in front of everyone.

Harry and Draco both looked utterly bewildered, but the other students were thrilled.

A duel! A duel! This was an actual duel! How long had it been since anyone had seen one of those at Hogwarts?

And that was not even counting the duelists: on one side was Harry Potter, currently the most talked-about student in the school, and on the other was the young heir of the Malfoy family, one of the oldest pure-blood families in the wizarding world.

This duel was going to be interesting.

The human tendency to enjoy a spectacle without caring how much trouble it caused did not change simply because the people involved were wizards. In fact, at that moment, the young witches and wizards demonstrated it more vividly than ever.

The students who had finished eating and were about to leave to take a nap, read, study, play, pursue romance, or do any number of other things immediately crowded around.

Some did leave, of course, but not because they intended to miss the spectacle. They went to fetch their friends and bring more people over to watch. With something this exciting, would watching alone not take away half the fun?